Strand working apparatus



Jan. 19, 1937. E. J. MCILVRIED 2,067,973

STRAND WORKING APPARATUS Filed July 26, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 L106 21.23 2*. gm mww 1937- E. J. MOILVRIED 2,067,973

STRAND WORKING APPARATUS Filed July 26, 19:0 4 Sheets-Sheet 2' Jan. 19,1937. MCILVRIED 2,067,973

STRAND WORKING APPARATUS Filed July 26, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jan, 19,1937. E. J. M ILVRIED 2,067,973

STRAND WORKING APPARATUS Filed July 26, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Cg iii/62%37 m-iwv w Patented Jan. 19, 1937 PATENT OFFICE 2,067,973 STRAND WORKINGAPPARATUS Edwin J. McIlvried, Akron, Ohio, assignor to The VaughnMachinery Company, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, a corporation of. OhioApplication July 26, 1930, Serial No. 470,891

8 Claims. (01. 205-'---16) This invention relates to apparatus forworking material which is supplied thereto in strand or strip form, andmore particularly my invention relates to an improved form of high speedwire drawing apparatus.

My invention aims to provide improved apparatus of the type mentioned inwhich novel means is employed for distributing compound to the strandworking means; in which means is provided for automatically'slackeningthe strand being worked upon the stopping of the spooling means; inwhich control means is provided for automatically stopping the spoolingmeans either when the spool becomes full, or in response to a no-loadcondition incident to the breaking of the strand, or upon the stoppingof the machine by the operator, and automatically slackening said strandsubstantially simultaneously with the stopping of the spooling means; inwhich novel means is employed for guiding the strand of material beingsupplied to the working means; and in which the means for guiding thestrand of material being supplied to the working means includes amovable guide member and toggle linkage for actuating the same uponmovement of the cover meansof the casing which houses the working means.

My invention may be further briefly summarized as consisting in certainnovel combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described andparticularly set out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying sheets of drawings Figure l'is a side elevationalview of a high speed wire drawing machine embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of the machine.

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation taken on line 44-of Fig. 3 showing myarrangement of compound distributing means.

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a partial end elevational view showing the means for guidingthe strand of material being supplied to the working means.

Fig. '7 is a top plan view thereof.

Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation taken on lin 8--8 of Fig. 6. I

Fig. 9 is an elevational view taken in the direction of line 9-9 of Fig.3 and showing a portion of the spooling apparatus and also showing thecontrol end indicating mechanism associated therewith.

Fig. 10 is an elevational view taken in the direction of line Ill-l0 ofFig. 9.

In the drawings to which detailed reference will now be made, I haveshown the strand working apparatus of my invention embodied in a wire.

drawing machine suitable for high speed drawing operation, and althoughI show a wire drawing machine in illustrating my invention, it should beunderstood however, that my invention may be applied to various forms ofapparatus for the working or attenuation of material in strand or stripform.

"In general the wire drawing machine which I have illustrated comprisesstrand working apparatus Ill arranged within the casing II and adaptedto be driven by the main motor I2, and spooling apparatus l3 which isadapted to take up the strand delivered by the working apparatus andwhich is driven from the spooler motor H.

The working apparatus which is housed within the casing ll comprises, ingeneral, a die supporting bracket or shelf [5, drawing capstans l6 andI1 arranged in axial alignment with each other on one side of the dieshelf, and an idler capstan l8 arranged on the opposite side of theannular drum surfaces are arranged in step formation, or in other words,are arranged so that their diameters increase progressively along theaxis of rotation of the capstans. As is well understood in this art, theprogressively increasing diameters of the annular drum surfaces takecare of the increase in length of the strand incident to its passagethrough the dies.

To provide for driving the drawing capstan I! at a faster rate of speedthan the drawing capstan It so as to thus take care of the elongation ofthe strand without involving an undue increase in the proportions of thecapstan I1 I mount the latter capstan upon a shaft -18 which extendsthrough the hollow shaft l9 upon whichdirection. but at difierent speedsby the main motor H.

From the working apparatus the strand is delivered to the spoolingapparatus 13 arranged near the casing H. The strand issuing from theworking apparatus is indicated at 22 and passes over a suitably arrangedsheave or guide 23 and thence to the spool 24 upon which the strand iswound. The spooling apparatus herein illustrated is described in detailand is claimed in a copending application Serial No. 470,890, filed July26, 1930, in the name of myself and Jesse C. Bittman as co-inventors nowPatent No, 1,981,- 563, granted November 20, 1934,-and need not be heredescribed in detail. It is sumcient, in

. connection with the disclosure of my present invention, to point outthat the spool 23 is removably mounted upon a carrier 25 which is drivenfrom the spooler motor H by means of the belt 26. The spool is retainedupon the carrier by means of a clamp 21 which is actuated by themovement of a piston reciprocably mountedwithin the cylinder 28. Thiscylinder is constructed as an enlargement of one end of the drive shaftfor the carrier, and forms the pulley around which the belt 26 extends.As the strand is wound upon the spool it is guided or laid by means ofthe fingers 29 which are moved back and forth in a well known manner, intimed rela tion with the rotation of the spool.

A rubber covered pressure roll 30 is mounted adjacent the spool 24 upona movable bracket 3| which is adapted to be actuated by the torque motor32. When the circuit of the spooler motor is opened the torque motor isautomatically energized by a suitable relay and the roller is pressedagainst the material which has been wound upon the spool so as toprevent unwinding of the same when the strand has been cut or broken.The construction of the spooler motor is such that as the materialgradually builds up on the spool the speed of the motor graduallydecreases, and for indicating the extent to which the spool has beenfilled, indicating means is employed which is automatically operated inresponse to the speed of the spooler motor. This speed responsive in--dicating means is more fully disclosed and claimed in my Patent No.1,990,884, issued February 19, 1935 on application Serial No. 470,889,which was copending with this application. In addition to indicating theextent to which the spool has been filled, this speed responsivemechanism embodies a control device which automatically opens thecircuit of the spooler motor and brings the spool to a stop when it hasbeen filled with material. The automatically operated pressure roll 30and the automatically operated indicating and control means for thespool are more fully disclosed, and are claimed in my copendingapplication Serial No. 562,642, flied September 14, 1931 now Patent No.1,946,802, granted February 13, 1934.

In the operation of the strand working means of my high speed wiredrawing machine, the strand of material being worked is looped or strungback and forth between the drawing capstans l5 and I1 and the idlercapstan l8. During the drawing operation this strand is normally undertension, and when the delivery of the strand from the working means tothe spooling means is stopped, as a result of the spooler motor I beingstopped, it is necessary that the strand which is looped between thedrawing and idler capstans be slackened immediately so as to preventburning of the strand by the capstans l3 and II which continue to rotateafter the stoppage of the spooler motor. To provide for the slackeningof the strand looped over the drawing and idler capstans, I mount thesheaves of the idler capstan upon an eccentric spindle 33, and byrotation of this spindle the axis of rota tion of the sheaves can betranslated toward the die shelf forslackening the strand, or away fromthe die shelf for tightening the strand. For rotatably actuating theeccentric spindle 33 I provide a fluid pressure cylinder 34 having apiston reciprocably mounted therein and connected to the eccentricspindle by means of the lever 35. The supply of actuating fluid, such ascompressed air, to the cylinder 34 is controlled by a suitable valve 36which is automatically operated in response to the operation of thespooler motor so that substantiallysimultaneously with the stopping ofthe spooler motor, fluid pressure is supplied to the cylinder forrotating the eccentric spindle to slacken the strand.

For actuating the valve 36 I provide a movable rack or sector 31 whichis engaged by the pinion 38 of the torque motor 39. When the spoolermotor is stopped the torque motor is deenergized and suitable means,such as the tension spring 40, tends to maintain the rack 31 in suchposition that fluid pressure supplied to the cylinder holds the idlercapstan in the slackened position. When the wire drawing machine is putinto operation the torque motor 39 is energized upon the starting of thespooler motor, and the rotation of the pinion 38 moves the rack 31against the action of the spring and actuates the valve 33 so that fluidpressure is supplied to the cylinder to rotate the eccentric spindle andthus 3 tighten the strand.

For controlling the operation of the torque motor 39, I provide a zerospeed control device 40' which controls the supply of energizing currentto the torque motor. This zero speed device is of well knownconstruction readily obtainable on the open market and therefore neednot be here described in detail. For the purpose of disclosing mypresent invention, it is sufficient to state that this device is soconstructed that when the apparatus with which it is associated ceasesto rotate, the contacts of this device are opened resulting in theopening of the circuit of the electrical apparatus which this devicecontrols. Since the slackening of the strand which passes around thecapstans must take place at substantially the instant that the spoolceases to rotate, I associate the zero speed control device 40' with thespooler motor H. As shown in Figs. 9 and 10 of the drawings the zerospeed control device is located ad- 'jacent the speed responsive device4| which automatically indicates the amount of material which has beenwound on the spool, and which automatically opens the circuit of thespooler motor. A coupling 42 connects the shaft of the zero speed devicewith the shaft of the speed responsive device ll so that both devicesare driven by the pulley 43 which is rotated by the belt 44 passingaround the pulley 45 of the spooler motor. During the winding operationthe weights or fly balls 46 of the speed responsive device are rapidlyrotated and as the spool gradually becomes fllled with material, thespeed of rotation of the spooler motor and of the fly balls graduallydecreases. The decrease in the speed of rotation of the fly balls 46allows them to be .retracted causing the lever 41 to be moved downwardlyabout its pivot 13. The downward movementof this lever causes the rod 49to be moveddownwardly also. When the spool becomes full iii the speed ofthe spooler motor is a-minimum and upon this speed being reached thesleeve 50, which is moving downwardly with rod 49,.engages the actuatingmember 5I extending outwardly from the switch 52 and causes the contactsof the switch to be opened resulting in the opening of the circuit andthe stopping of the spooler motor. Movements of the rod 49 in upwardlyand downwardly directions in response to changes in the speed ofrotation of the spooler motor are transmitted to the indicating device53 by means of the rod 54. The indicating device 53 comprises a casing55 having one or more graduated openlugs 56 through which the sleeve 5'!may be observed. This sleeve is reciprocably mounted in the casing andis operably connected to the rod 54 so that movements of the rods 49 and54 in response to variations in the speed of the spooler motor cause thesleeve 51 to be moved with respect to the graduated openings and thusindicate the amount of material which has been wound on the spool. Itwill now be readily understood that as the spool becomes filled withmaterial visible indications are given by the indicating device 53, andwhen the spool becomes full the switch 52 is automatically snapped tostop the spooler motor I4. Immediately upon the stoppage of the spoolermotor the zero speed device 40 causes the circuit of the torque motor 39to be opened. The opening of this circuit deenergizes the torque motorand allows the rack 31 to be moved by the spring M.

Movement of this rack causes the valve 36 to be actuated so that fluidpressure is supplied to the cylinder 34 to actuate the piston thereinand thereby'rotate the eccentric spindle 33 in a direction to producetranslation of the axis of the sheaves i9 toward the die shelf and thusslacken the strand being worked.

During the operation of wire drawing machinery and the like, it iscustomary to supply a liquid, usually referred to as a compound, to thestrand working apparatus. This compound acts as a lubricant and as acooling medium to facilitate the working of the strand. To effectivelydistribute this compound to the drawing capstans l6 and I! it isdesirable to have a distributing pipe extend outwardly over thesecapstans, however, a distributing pipe arranged in this position wouldinterfere with the operations of stringing or removing the strands ofmaterial which pass around the capstans. To permit the use ofdistributing means in this advantageous position, I have devised anarrangement in which a perforated distributing pipe 58 is mounted uponthe underside of the movable cover 59 in such a position as to extendover and substantially parallel to the axis of the capstans I6 and I!when the cover is closed. To provide for a supply of compound to thedistributing pipe 58 I provide the latter with a fitting 60 which isalso secured to the underside of the cover, and which is arranged tocooperate with the fitting M. The latter fitting is mounted at the upperend of the supply pipe 62, and is preferably secured to a wallof thecasing. The fitting 5! is provided at its upper end with a suitablyshaped recess within which the annular resilient gasket or packingmember 63, is seated. When the cover 59 is in the position indicated inFigs. 4 and 5 to close the casing H, the fitting 60 engages the packingmember 53 and establishes a fluid tight connection between the supplypipe and the distributing pipe. When the fittings 60 and (ii are in thiscooperating position their fluid passages are continuous so thatcompound will be supplied to the distributing pipe from the supply pipe62. When the cover is swung about the axis of its actuating shaft 64 tothe open position indicated in Fig. 6, the distributing pipe 58 iscarried with the cover and is thereby moved away from the capstans I6and I1 and to an out of the way position.

The strand of material which is being supplied to the working means isrepresented at 65 in Fig. l, and is shown as entering the left hand endof the machine as seen in this figure, through the guide box 66. Thisguide box is secured to a wall of the casing I I and guides the strandof material being supplied to the working means through an openingprovided in this wall of the casing. The guide box as clearly shown inFigs. 6, 7, and 8, comprises a channel shaped member 61 which is securedto the wall of the casing II, and which is provided with spaced fingers68 arranged to extend vertically across the opening of the casing wall.The spaces between these fingers provide guide slots 69 through whichthe strand of material passes as it enters the casing. As shown in Figs.6 and 7 of the drawings four guide slots are provided and during theoperation of the ma chinery the strand supplied to the working meanspasses through one of the guide slots, depending upon the arrangement ofdie which is to be used while the other guide slots may be closed bymeans of suitable removable bars 10.

In addition to the guide slots provided between the fingers 58, thechannel shaped member 61 is provided with two vertical pins II whichassist the fingers 53 in guiding the strand of material in the lateralplane.' For guiding the strand in the vertical plane the channel shapedmember is provided with a; lower guide member 12 upon which the strandmay bear as it passes through the opening of the casing. This lowerguide member is preferably constructed in the form of a curved andhardened plate which is removably mounted so that it may be replacedwhen it becomes worn. An upper guide member 13 is hinged at one endthereof to the channel shaped member 61 for swinging movement toward andaway from the lower guide member 12. The upper or movable guide member13 is provided with a hardened plate M of rounded form which holds thestrand of material down in the guide slots 69 and prevents the strandfrom damaging or jarring the cover 59 of the casing. The movable guidemember is preferably constructed with an arcuate extension I5 at itsfree end. This extension is shaped and arranged so that as the upperguide member moves toward the lower guide member the extension acts as adeflecting means which tends to sweep the strand into the guide slotsduring its movement toward the lower guide member.

During the operation of stringing the strand of material to be worked,around the capstans of the working means, the cover of the casing II isin' the open position indicated in Fig. 6. After the stringing operationhas been completed and the machine is to be set in operation the cover II is moved to the closed position. To provide for movement of the upperguide member 13 in associated relation with the cover 59 so that thestrand can be inserted into the guide slot 69 during the stringingoperation, and so that the strand will be retained in the guide slotwhen the cover has been closed, I employ toggle linkage for swinging themovable guide member away from'and toward the lower guide member. Thislinkage comprises a lever 11 having one end thereof mounted upon thecover actuating shaft 64 and its other end hinged to the link" which isin turn pivoted to the movable guide member. With this arrangementmovement of the cover, from the dotted position indicated in Fig. 6, tothe full line position shown in Fig. 4, causes the upper guide member tobe swung from the dotted position indicated in Fig. 6, toward the lowerguide member and to assume the full line position indicated. When the,upper guide member has been swung downwardly into cooperating spacedrelation with the lower guide member it will be noted that the link 18has assumed a substantially straight line position with respect to thelever 'I'I with the result that this linkage forms a toggle whichopposes the action of the strand against the upper guide member tendingto swing this member about its pivot. This toggle linkage thus tends tomaintain the movable guide member in proper position and prevents thestrand, which is entering the casing, from rattling or jarring the coveropen.

The movement of the cover to open and closed positions may beaccomplished by any suitable means, and in this instance I have shown afluid pressure cylinder 19 which is arranged to perform this function. Apiston reciprocably mounted in the cylinder is operably connected to thearm or lever 80 which is secured to the cover shaft 64. Thus, by theadmission of fluid pressure through suitable valve means the cover 59may be moved to open or closed position and at the same time the fluiddistributing pipe 58 is moved away from or toward the drawing capstans Iand I1, and likewise the movable guide member 13 is also moved away fromor toward the lower guide member 14.

It will now be readily seen that I have provided wire drawing apparatusin which the slackening of the strand being worked takes placeautomatically and substantially simultaneously with the stopping of thespooling means. By this arrangement my wire drawing apparatus may besafely and economically operated at very high speeds because thespooling apparatus is automatically brought to a stop when the spoolbecomes full or when the strand breaks, and at the instant of thestopping of the spooling means the strand being worked is automaticallyslackened so that damage by burning is avoided. Since these functionsare performed automatically they can be performed more quickly and morereliably than if they were performed as hand operations. It will also beseen that I have provided a novel arrangement for distributing compoundto the strand working means in such a way that the distributing meansassumes an out of the way position when work is to be performed on theapparatus within the casing. It will also be readily seen that I haveprovided novel guide means for directing the strand of material into thecasing in such a' way that it does not damage or jar the cover. Inaddition my guide means is so arranged that it sweeps the strand ofmaterial into the guide slots as the cover is being closed and releasesthe strand so that the'latter may be removed from the slot when thecover is opened.

While I have illustrated and described the device of my invention in adetailed manner it should be understood however, that I do not intend tolimit myself to the precise details and arrangements of parts which Ihave shown and described, but regard my invention as including suchchanges and modifications as do not involve a departure from the spiritof the invensubstantially simultaneously with the stopping of thewinding means.

2. In apparatus of the character described the combination of means forworking a strand of material, variable speed winding means for taking upthe strand delivered by said working means, means including a controlresponsive to a predetermined speed of the winding means forautomatically stopping said winding means, means for slackening saidstrand, and control means adapted to be actuated upon the stopping ofsaid winding means for rendering said slacking means eflective.

3. In apparatus of the character described the combination of means forworking a strand of material, variable speed winding means for taking upthe strand delivered by said working means, means responsive to thespeed of the winding means for automatically stopping said windingmeans, and means for automatically slackening said strand, the lastmentioned means including an electromagnetic device, and means forenergizing said device substantially simultaneously with the stopping ofsaid winding means.

4. In apparatus of the character described the combination of means forworking a strand-of material including a rotatable drum and an idlersheave over which said strand passes, variable speed winding means fortaking up the strand delivered by said working means, means responsiveto the speed of the winding means for automatically stopping saidwinding means, and means for automatically slackening said strandsubstantially simultaneously with the stopping of said winding means,said slackening means including an eccentrically mounted spindlerotatably supporting said idler sheave, and fluid pressure responsivemeans for rotating said spindle.

5. In apparatus of the character described the combination of means forworking astrand of material including a rotatable drum and an idlersheave over which said strand passes, variable speed winding meansfortaking up the strand delivered by said working means, meansresponsive to the speed of the winding means for automatically stoppingsaid winding means, and means for automatically slackening said strandsubstantially simultaneously with the stopping of said winding means,said slackening means comprising porting said idler sheave, fluidpressure responsive means for rotating said spindle, valve means forcontrolling said fluid pressure responsive means, and electromagneticmeans for actuating said valve means.

6. In apparatus of the character described the combination of means forworking a strand of material including a rotatable drum and an idlersheave over which said strand passes, variable speed winding means fortaking up the strand delivered by said working means, means responsiveto the speed of the winding means for automatically stopping saidwinding means, and

' an eccentrically mounted spindle rotatably supmeans for automaticallyslackening said strand substantially simultaneously with the stopping ofsaid winding means, said slackening means comprising an eccentricallymounted spindle rotatably supporting said idler sheave, fluid pressureresponsive means for rotating said-spindle, valve means for controllingsaid fluid pressure responsive means, and a torque motor for actuatingsaid valve means.

7. In apparatus of the character described the combination of means forworking a strand of material including a rotatable drum and an idlersheave over which the strand passes, a spindle upon which said sheave isrotatable, movable mounting means for said spindle whereby the spacingof the axis of said spindle from the axis of said drum may be varied tothereby slacken said strand, a rotatable spool for winding the stranddelivered by the working means, variable speed driving means forrotating said spool at a progressively decreasing speed as the strandbuilds up on the spool, speed responsive means effective for stoppingsaid driving means when the speed of the driving means is apredetermined minimum value, actuating means for said movable spindlemounting means, and control means for said actuating means, said controlmeans being responsive to the stopping of said driving means forrendering said actuating means effective for slackening said strand.

8. In apparatus of the character described the combination of means forworking a strand of material including a rotatable drum and an idlersheave over which the strand passes, a spindle upon which said sheave isrotatable, movable mounting means for said spindle whereby the spacingof the axis of said spindle from the axis of said drum may be varied tothereby slacken said strand, a rotatable spool for winding the stranddelivered by the working means, variable speed driving means forrotating said spool at a progressively decreasing speed as the strandbuilds up on the spool, speed responsive means effective for stoppingsaid driving means when the speed of the driving means is apredetermined minimum value, actuating means for said movable spindlemounting means including a fluid pressure responsive device operativelyconnected to said mounting means, a valve for controlling the supply ofmotive fluid to said fluid pressure responsive device, actuating meansfor said valve including an electromagnetic device, and speed responsiveswitch means for controlling the energization of said electromagneticdevice whereby said fluid pressure responsive device is renderedoperative for slackening said strand upon the stopping of said drivingmeans.

EDWIN J. MCILVRIED.

